Whispers of the Night
by MoonytheMarauder1
Summary: FB drabbles. First: Nagini waits for the inevitable.
1. Silence Falls

**A/N: Hey y'all! Some angsty Nagini for you. **

**Word Count: 396**

**Enjoy!**

Nagini let her dark hair spill over her shoulders as she hunched over the fireplace. Her black eyes searched through the ashes, looking for—there.

Nagini reached into the fireplace and gently lifted the ashwinder from its nest. It reared up at first, before it sensed a kindred spirit in her; that was the one good thing about her curse, her affinity with snakes. Nagini hummed softly to the serpent, coaxing it into curling around her arm. She was careful to soothe it into a state of near slumber, then slowly removed her wand from her sleeve.

There were three glowing eggs in the midst of the ashes, and though Nagini hated to freeze them, she knew they would burn her apartment building down if she wasn't careful. With a simple charm, she froze the eggs, ignoring the soft hiss of the Ashwinder. Nagini scooped up the eggs and stood.

The grey snake slithered around her neck, tightening slightly around her throat. Nagini paid the creature no mind. She shivered as she crossed the apartment, the tile freezing against her bare feet. Once she reached her bedroom, Nagini Apparated, the sound muffled by the Silencing Charms she'd put in place.

When Nagini opened her eyes once more, she was in a grassy field. Still barefoot and dressed in only a thin nightgown, she made her way through the dirt. Her feet ached against the icy ground.

Nagini knelt after a few minutes of walking and placed the eggs, which were beginning to cool alarmingly, in a small, abandoned burrow. She released the charm on them and unwound the Ashwinder from around her neck, where it immediately slithered to its children.

Nagini sat back on her heels, letting the wind whip her hair. She let her mind wander, as it so often did these days, of the inevitable future. Of the day when he body—her very soul—would morph into something else entirely.

She wondered if she would lose her mind to it, as well.

But there was no point in dreading what was to come, she tried to reason with herself. She could only take this one day at a time.

Nagini got to her feet, the night silent around her. All Nagini could hear was the sound of her own breathing. She closed her eyes and Apparated back to her empty apartment, knowing her days were numbered.


	2. Why Stay?

**A/N: Hey y'all! Angsty AlbusGellert**

**Word Count: 335**

**WARNINGS: Abusive relationship**

**Enjoy!**

Gellert closed his eyes against the pounding in his skull. Another episode of darkness was coming on, he could feel it. Soon enough, his fury would overtake him, and he'd lash out once again at Albus.

That was something he really didn't want to do.

He didn't deserve the blue-eyed man, whose twinkling eyes were the furthest thing from the evil that liked to consume Gellert. He shouldn't be around someone so pure.

But he stayed with the other man. He stayed, and they kissed, and spent nights together, and loved each other. Gellert ruined it every time with these moments of rage. He shouted, threw things, and even once… once, he'd even struck the other man.

Albus hadn't let him, though. He should have, but he hadn't.

Maybe Albus was weak. Maybe Gellert was weaker.

Gellert ran his fingers through his blond curls, gritting his teeth against the pain. He didn't want to be hurting the man he loved (for he loved him, in a cruel and twisted way), but he was as unable to stop as he was unable to fly unaided by a broomstick.

He whimpered, glad that he was alone for the moment. He thought of all the promises he'd made his lover and wished that he could keep them. But the thought of power… the promise of power… it was too much. It was too tempting.

Even Albus had fallen into its clutches.

Gellert knew, deep down, that one day, it would all explode. They would come to blows, and everything they had would be snatched from them. Maybe Aberforth would be the one to send them over the edge. He was the strongest of the three of them. If Gellert didn't hate the younger boy so much, he might have admired him.

"Gellert? Are you there?"

_Why don't you run? Albus, why do you keep returning when all I do is hurt you?_

Gellert straightened his back and looked towards the auburn-haired man. "I'm here," he said, and smiled.


	3. I Won't Hurt You Anymore

**A/N: Hey y'all! This was written for Hogwarts. **

**Word Count: 481**

**Enjoy!**

It was as though his identity had been ripped from him.

Who was he now that Gellert was gone? He wasn't a wizarding savior who would protect children from the cruelty of Muggles. He wasn't the kind older brother he'd once been to Aberforth and—

And her.

He supposed he was just a failure now. A foolish boy who'd flown too close to the sun. Albus laughed lowly at himself, but the sound was devoid of all laughter. How had things gone so wrong?

He looked out over the cliff face he was sitting on and watched the waves roll in. There was so much beyond the sea, so much that he'd wanted to experience, but now he felt tainted… undeserving. He shouldn't be near such beauty. Ariana had been beautiful, and his own ambition and pride had destroyed her.

It didn't matter if his was the spell that had ended her life. What mattered was that he'd played a part in her death. He would always be guilty. She would always be gone.

Albus turned to face the house behind him, where he knew Aberforth was hiding. The younger boy hadn't come out of Ariana's room in days, consumed with grief and hatred. Albus couldn't bear the weight of that guilt, so he ignored it for now. Pushed it away. He'd deal with it later.

"It isn't your fault, you know."

Albus couldn't say that he hadn't expected to see Gellert again, but he felt some semblance of surprise nonetheless. He didn't face the other man; instead, he turned back to the ocean.

"Yes, it is. And you shouldn't be here." Albus closed his eyes, his half-moon spectacles sliding down his newly-crooked nose as he lowered his head. "I don't want you here."

But Gellert didn't listen. "This doesn't have to be the end, Albus," he argued. "There is still hope. We can make everyone who's wronged us pay—"

"And what about the people we've wronged, Gellert?" Albus asked, finally getting to his feet and staring down the other man. "What about my brother and sister?"

Gellert's ice blue eyes were chilling. "We can bring her back, Albus," he whispered. "You know we can. That's how we make amends."

And oh, it was tempting. But Albus looked back over to the house, and he knew that chasing a fable, however great the reward, was not the help Aberforth needed. Albus' eyes were open, now; he had to concentrate on what he had, and how he could improve the lives of others.

He was not a man meant for power, and he'd learned that lesson the hard way.

Solemnly, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to walk away. "Goodbye, Gellert," he said softly.

Gellert didn't respond, but Albus knew that they were both thinking the same thing: the next time they met, it would be on a battlefield.


	4. Bear Hugs

**A/N: Hey, y'all! Gosh, I feel like it's been forever since I've written an FB fic. Anyway, have some Newt and Theseus bonding. :) (Google says they're 9 years apart, so that's what I've gone with here.)**

**Thaumatology Task 3: Write about someone having an accident. **

**Word Count: 1029**

**Enjoy!**

Newt stretched his hand towards the kneazle, his blue eyes wide with wonder. The poor creature's fur was matted and patched in places, and the small boy's heart ached for it.

The kneazle was cowering under a bush, hissing and spitting at Newt. Unbothered, the boy moved his hand closer. "Hi," he whispered. "It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you."

Unfortunately, the kneazle didn't seem to share this sentiment. When Newt came closer, it swiped at his hand, and he yelped as beads of blood bubbled up along the scratches. He withdrew his hand, and the kneazle took the opportunity to bound away.

Newt watched it go, tears in his eyes as loneliness settled over him like a cloud.

* * *

"Newt!" Theseus Scamander, at fifteen, was used to chasing after his little brother. Their mother was often away from the house during the day, so Newt was under his watch and care.

Theseus tried not to be resentful of the responsibility his mother placed on his shoulders; he loved Newt, but he'd prefer to be the boy's brother, not his caretaker.

"Where are you, Newt?" Theseus called again. His brother didn't enjoy the indoors much, but Theseus had been searching outside for close to half an hour now. Worry started to curl in his gut; if something had happened to Newt…

But then he heard it. Not too far into the woods surrounding their property came the sound of muffled crying. Theseus recognized it immediately as his brother's, and he ran in the direction of the noise.

A mixture of relief and concern flooded him when he finally saw the younger boy, hunched against a tree with his knees drawn to his chest. Newt's head was angled down so Theseus couldn't see his face, but he knew what expression would be there. As much as it broke his heart to realize it, the sense of loneliness that had been plaguing Newt recently seemed to have made a comeback.

"Newt." Theseus knelt beside the small boy. "What's the matter? I've been looking for you everywhere."

Wordlessly and without lifting his head, Newt raised his left arm. Theseus peered at it closely, then sucked in a breath when he saw the scratch marks, which were halfway crusted over with dried blood.

He grabbed Newt under the arms and picked him up. "What happened?" he asked quietly as he began to walk back to the house. "Why didn't you come get me?"

Newt just shrugged and stayed silent. Theseus didn't press the matter; he'd learned long ago that if Newt didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't.

When the Scamander brothers finally found the bathroom, Theseus placed Newt on the counter and searched for some basic healing potions. Newt stayed quiet through it all, never raising his blue-eyed gaze from the ground. Theseus couldn't help but glance at him anxiously every few seconds—he was no expert by any means, but he was fairly sure that six-year-olds weren't supposed to look so sad all the time.

Finally, he located a cotton swab and some murtlap essence. He grabbed a wound-cleaning potion just to be safe, but decided against giving Newt a calming draught; he wasn't particularly upset, just… dejected. Theseus frowned sharply, but went about administering the potions.

He soaked the cotton swab in the wound-cleaning potion first, then gently took Newt's arm in his free hand. He cleaned the wound efficiently and thoroughly, and though it must have stung, Newt didn't flinch.

Eventually, the silence became unbearable. "What did this?"

Newt's voice was quiet when he responded. "The kneazle."

The older of the two brothers quirked a brow. "Did you try to pet it or something? It's a wild animal, Newt. You need to be more careful."

"It… it was sad." Theseus watched as Newt's face pulled into a frown. "I wanted to help it." He looked up at Theseus suddenly, his large eyes completely sincere in their confusion. "Why didn't it like me?"

His heart twisted at those words. Theseus recalled all the times when Newt had been spurred by the other children in their village because of his quietness, his aloofness, his utter fascination with all things that were alive. There was a gentleness to Newt that precious few people understood; it made them uncomfortable to be around a boy so seemingly innocent.

Those reactions hadn't escaped Newt's notice. And now, when even the creatures Newt adored so much wouldn't go near him… well. He could only imagine how the boy must be feeling.

Theseus readied the murtlap essence as he figured out what to say. "Well… sometimes, there are people—or kneazles—who just need a little extra patience. The kneazle you met today was probably afraid, Newt. It didn't _dislike_ you."

Newt's gaze dropped back to the ground. "You don't know that."

Theseus paused. Newt was absolutely right, but the truth would hurt. He couldn't bear to make Newt feel any more unwanted, so he just set down the healing supplies and enveloped Newt in a bear hug.

"Theseus!" Newt squirmed, but Theseus didn't loosen his grip.

"Give me a _smile,_ Newt," he teased, picking his brother up. "I'm not letting you go until you cheer up!"

Newt shoved uselessly at his brother's chest, giggling despite himself. _Mission accomplished,_ Theseus thought with satisfaction.

He set Newt back on the counter and finished dressing the wound, stealing glances at his brother as he did so. Newt still looked upset, but his eyes seemed a little brighter.

Theseus ran a hand through Newt's curls, so much like his own. "Are you feeling better, then?"

Newt bobbed his head up and down and jumped to the floor. "I'm going back outside," he said; nothing could keep him inside for long. "I'll look for the bowtruckles again. I _know_ they're there."

Theseus hid a smile. "You do that. I'll check on you in a bit."

But Newt was already out the door. Biting his lip, Theseus watched him race back out into the woods. For a moment, he let himself wonder what the future held for them both. Then he shook his head, smiling at himself, and turned to go back inside.


End file.
